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A Statutory Declaration is a statement or fact that is created and signed in the presence of a UK solicitor, Notary Public or anyone who is authorised by law to hear it. Statutory Declarations are signed in the presence of a UK official to ensure that the written statement does not contain any false information or material. The person making the declaration is made aware of their responsibilities. To knowingly make a false declaration could result in legal proceedings being taken against that person.

When researching how to get your documents prepared for overseas use, you will come across many words and phrases that are often used to describe services offered. These are often interchangeable, occasionally misused and sometimes confusing. You will read about apostilles, legalisation, certification, attestation and also notarisation.

There are very few couples that enter into marriage anticipating a divorce at some point in the future. However, according to the National Statistics Office over 40% of marriages end in divorce. When a divorce is finally completed through the courts a decree absolute will be issued. You may find it necessary to provide evidence of the divorce overseas and obtain an apostille certificate.

Apostille certificates have a date of issue. This is clearly recorded in section 6 of the certificate. Whilst there is no expiry date we are often asked by customers “how long does an apostille last” or “when do they expire”.

Documents often need to be signed by a solicitor or notary public before the apostille can be issued.

The apostille certificate is added to a document that bears the signature of a public official or the seal of an official document. Many documents do not have a public signature or seal and need to be certified by a solicitor or notary before they can be legalised legalised by apostille.

Greek citizens living and working in the UK are regularly asked to provide documents to prove they are resident in the UK or paying UK taxes. These documents require the apostille before the authorities in Greece will accept them.

Over the last few years we have seen an increase in the number of Greek citizens currently working in the UK that need to have their documents legalised. Greece is now asking for Greek nationals to provide proof of residence in the UK or proof that they are paying UK tax.

If you need someone to act on your behalf in legal matters then you will probably need to issue a power of attorney. This formal document provides another person with the authority to act on your behalf for a specific purpose or may be issued for general use in many matters.

Issuing a power of attorney is common practice in both business and personal proceedings when you need someone to act on your behalf. Using a power of attorney in another country can save people the time and expense of travelling abroad to deal with legal issues.

With the free movement of people across the EU there has been an increase in people moving to other countries to seek employment. If you currently work outside your home country then you may be asked to provide a certificate of residence or prove that you pay tax in the UK. These documents are often needed to avoid paying tax in your home country as well as the UK.

When documents are legalised they are checked and processed with the UK government and then submitted to the relevant embassy if required. During the service your document will have additional certificates and stamps applied.

Documents being legalised for use in Oman only need an apostille certificate. Previously documents had to be attested with the embassy this is no longer necessary as Oman is a member of the Hague Convention.

We regularly provide the apostille certificate for documents being used in Oman. Since January 2012 it has only been necessary to legalise documents for Oman with the apostille. No further embassy attestation is required.